A financial offense still needs a defense

MetLife teams up with football great Jerry Rice to spread the word about retirement readiness.

By Marlene Y. Satter|November 06, 2014 at 08:11 AM|Originally published on Lifehealthpro

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Hoping that framing the approach to managing finances in terms of football metaphors might make a “balanced” approach clearer, MetLife has teamed up with football’s Jerry Rice to get the message across.

The approach dovetails with the results of the MetLife Financial Planning Perspectives Poll, which indicated that that 55 percent of those surveyed do not believe that protecting their assets is as important as growing those assets.

The poll, conducted by Penn Schoen Berland, surveyed 250 mass affluent (those with investable assets of $100,000 to $1 million) to learn respondents’ approaches to financial management, their perceptions of growing and safeguarding their assets, and their views on the role that financial professionals play in their planning. The survey also sought to better understand their thoughts on their individual financial situations.

Almost three out of four respondents (72 percent) said they had a financial plan, and the same number said they believed they were on track in their retirement preparations. But more than half (55 percent) said they didn’t believe that protecting their assets with products such as insurance and growing assets with products such as mutual funds were equally important.

Approximately two-thirds of respondents don’t really know how much coverage would be appropriate for them in terms of life insurance, annuities and disability insurance. And more of them are investing in retirement and 401(k) plans (almost 75 percent) than are buying annuities (37 percent), long-term care insurance (34 percent) and disability insurance (32 percent).

So MetLife’s Premier Client Group turned to pro football player Jerry Rice to present the offense/defense picture in an effort to highlight the need for a holistic approach to financial planning. The initiative presents the idea that Americans can’t just rely only on growing assets in order to meet long-term financial goals, but should also give some consideration to protecting what they have.

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